Apparatus for marking a hemline in dresses and skirts



April 4, 1953 w. A. STEVENS EI'AL 2,634,502

APPARATUS FOR. MARKING A HEMLINE IN DRESSES AND SKIRTS Filed Aug. 28, 1952 SHEETS-SHEET l LJ 3 a INVENTORS WZZliamA. Stevens w Karl I} 14 226501 ATTORNEYS April 1953 I w. A. STEVENS arm. 2,634,502

APPARATUS FOR: MARKING A HEMLINE IN DRESSES AND SKIRTS FilgdAugfiSB. 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET? 'IIIII VIIIIIIIIIIIIJ INVENTORS William A. Stevens Karl]! Wiisozz/ ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED STATES TE N T OFFICE APPARATUS FOR MARKING A HEMLINE IN DRESSES AND SKIRTS Application August 28, 1952, Serial No. 306,846

The present invention relates to improvements in. garment markers. The invention is more particularly concerned with a device for marking dresses or skirts for the purpose of placing hems in such garments. The task of marking the hemline of a dress or skirt to provide a garment of the the proper length and to assure that the garment hangs properly has heretofore been a tedious job requiring the services of an individual other than the wearer. of the garment. Efforts have heretofore been made to provide machines or mechanisms for performing this task, but to the best of our knowledge such pri'ormachines or mecha-- nisms have not gone into general use.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a simple and: inexpensive mechanism which can be used by the wearer of a garment for marking the skirt of the garment easily and quickly to assure that a hem can be placed in the garmentat the desired position and to-assure that the skirt will be of uniform length around its circumference.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for firmly holding the fabric ofthe garment while a mark is being applied at adesired position.

Still anotherobject of the invention is to pro-- vide a mechanism of the type described which is capable of functioning on fabrics of a variety of thicknesses.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which will cause a marking substance to be brought into contactwith the portion of the fabric to be marked, and which will then cause the marking substance to move relative'to the fabric to assure the making of a legible mark on the fabric.

Still another object of the invention is to provide means for angular and longitudinal adjustment of; the marking substance to assure proper marking and to increase the useful life of the marking substance.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully under stood from the following detailed description which has reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a view in sideelevati'on of a garment marking device embodying the invention;

Figure 2' is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1, showing a garment in position to be marked;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus, the proper positions of a wearers feet being shown inv dotted lines;

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of 2, portions of" the apparatus with partsthereof' being shown in vertical section;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in side elevation and partly in section of the apparatus in fabric markingposition;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 6-6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a view taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 1-1 of Figure 4.

The device includes a base plate 8 having a foot guide 9 extending upwardly from adjacent the center thereof. The sole purpose of; the. footv guide. 9 is to assure that the wearer will stand on the base plate 8 inv the position shown in Figures- 2 and 3, and any other suitable guide means may be employed.

A standard 10 extends upwardly from one edge oi the base plate 8. The standard to: is provided with a longitudinally extending slot I l. A marker bracket I2 is vertically adjustable along the length of the standard It and is attached thereto by' means of bolts [3 and i i-having wing nuts l5 and 16, respectively. The bracket I2 is laterally oifset near its upper end as indicated by the reference numeral IT. A pointer I8 is fixed to the bracket l2 and cooperates with a scale 19 on the standard l0 for the purpose of selecting the height above the base plate 8' at which the. garment is tobe marked.

The marker bracket. I72. also carries a marking wedge 20 which is positioned at the same elevation as the pointer l8. The lower end of the marker bracket I2 curves outwardly and upwardly as indicated at 21 to terminate in an inclined support 22' to which is secured the sheathof a Bowden wire 23, a clamping bracket 24 and screws 25 being provided for this purpose.

A marker arm 26 is pivotally connected at its lower end to the marker bracket i2 by means of a pivot pin 2?. The marker arm 26 is provided with an opening 28 therein. The. opening 28 is so positioned asto permit the wedge 20 to'pass therethrough upon pivotal movement of the marker arm toward the markerbracket. Such movement serves to project a, portion 29 of the garment 30 through the opening 28'. The marker arm 26 is normally urged toward the position illustrated in Figures: 2 and 4 by means of a compression spring member 3|: which is positioned, between the handle 32 and the handle 3-3 which. are attached, respectively, to the sheath and. the wireof the Bowden wire 23. When the handle 33 is pressed toward the handle 32 the marker arm 28 will be caused topivot on itsaxis 21 and to assume the position shown. in Figures 5 and 6.

A body of marking." substance 341 is positioned adjacent the opening 28 on the opposite side of the marker arm from the wedge 29. The marking substance is adjustably secured in a socket 35 by means of a clamping screw 36. The marking substance 34 may be chalk or any other suitable composition capable of making a contrasting mark on the fabric upon engagement therewith and movement relative thereto. The socket 35 is pivotally connected by means of pins 31 to ears 38 on a slide member 39. A cantilever spring member 40 has one of its ends fixed to the slide member 39 and its free end resiliently urges the socket 35 and the marking substance 34 to the positions shown in Figure 4. The spring member 49, however, permits the socket 35 and the marking substance 34 to move to the position shown in Figure 5 when the marking material engages the fabric 29 which has been projected through,

the opening 28 by means of the wedge 20. This engagement of the marking substance 34 with the fabric portion 29 will cause a mark to be made on the fabric.

We efiect relative movement between the fabric and the marking substance in order to assure that a perfectly legible mark will be made on the fabric. For this purpose, the slide member 39 is longitudinally movable relative to the marker arm 26. The slide member 39 is provided with elongated slots 4| and 42 which receive bolts 43 and 44 provided with nuts 45 and 46. A tension spring member 41 is secured to the lower end of the slide member 39 and to the marker bracket I2. This spring member biases the slide member 39 toward its lowermost position, as shown in Figure 4. The slide member 39 is also provided with a boss 48 to which the end of the wire of the Bowden wire 23 is secured by means of a clamping screw 49.

The strength of the tension spring member 41 is such that it prevents the slide member 39 from moving relative to the marker arm 26 during initial movement of the handle 33 toward the handle 32. This initial movement of the handle 33 causes the portions of the apparatus to assume the positions shown in Figure 5. It will be noted from that figure that portion 29 of the fabric has been projected through the opening 28 and is in engagement with the marking substance 24. Also the fabric of the garment 30 is being securely gripped between the marker arm 26 and a gripping member 59 on the marker bracket l2. The marker arm 26 is thus prevented from partaking of further pivotal movement toward the marker bracket l2. Further depression of the handle 33 toward the handle 32 will cause the slide member 39 to move longitudinally of the marker arm 26, against the action of the tension spring member 41. Move- 4 the hemline. The wearer of the dress then stands on the base 8 with her feet on either side of the guide 9 and with the lower edge of the garment positioned between the marker bracket I 2 and the marker arm 26. This relationship is clearly shown in Figure 2. The wearer of the garment then grips the handles 32 and 33 and squeezes them toward each other, causing the marking action which has been described above. Pressure is released from the handles 32 and 33 to permit the portions ,of the apparatus to return to the positions shown in Figures 2 and 4. The wearer of the garment then turns slightly to bring another portion of the garment into the marking zone. The operation is repeated. These operations are continued until the operator has made a sufiicient number of marks around the circumference of the garment to form an accurate guide in the making of a hem for the garment.

When the surface of the marking substance 34 which engages the fabric 29 becomes appreciably worn, the marking substance can be removed, turned and replaced in the socket 35 to bring a new surface into marking position. The marking substance can also be turned end for end in. the socket 35 to bring additional new surfaces. into markin position. The life of the marking substance is thus increased.

' and inexpensive, and that it requires no mechanical ingenuity for its operation. The arrangement for providing relative sliding move-. ment of the marking substance and a projected portion of the garment has been found particularly effective in producing legible markings, even though there may be slight contrast between the color of the marking substance and that of the fabric of the garment.

The form of the invention which we have illustrated and described is to be considered as exemment of the sliding member 39 will cause movement of the marking substance 34 relative to the projecting fabric 29 and will assure the making of a legible mark on the fabric. The spring member 41 will draw the sliding member 39 and the marking substance 34 downwardly across the projecting fabric 29 when the operator begins to release pressure on the handle 33, with the result that there is further moving engagement of the marking substance with the fabric. Upon complete release of pressure on the handles 32 and 33, the parts of the apparatus return to the position as shown in Figure 4.

The manner of using the apparatus can be briefly described. The marker bracket I2 is adjusted along the length of the standard [0 until i the pointer I8 indicates the desired height of Having thus described our invention, we claim;

l. A garment marker comprising a base, an upright standard on said base, a marker bracket vertically adjustable along said standard, a laterally extending marking wedge fixed to said bracket, a marker arm pivotally connected adjacent its lower end to said bracket and having an opening therein for passage of said wedge through the marker arm, means for pivotally moving said arm toward said bracket whereby a portion of garment fabric hanging between said bracket and said arm will be engaged by said wedge and projected through said opening in said arm, a marking substance resiliently supported on said arm in position to engage said projecting portion of fabric, and means for causing movement of said marking substance longitudinally of said arm to rub against the projecting portion of the fabric. Y

2. In a garment marker, a marker bracket, a marking wedge fixed to said bracket, a marker arm pivotally connected to said bracket and hav ing an opening therein for passage of said wedge through the marker arm, means for pivotally moving said arm toward said bracket whereby a portion of garment fabric positioned between said bracket and said arm will be engaged by said Wedge and projected through said opening in said arm, a marking substance resiiientiy supported on said arm in position to engage said projecting portion of fabric, and means for causing movement of said marking substance in a plane generally parallel to said arm to thereby rub against and effectively mark the projecting portion of the fabric.

3. In a garment marker, a marker bracket, a marker arm pivotally connected to said bracket, a marking Wedge fixed to one of said members, the other of said members having an opening therein for passage of said Wedge therethrough, means for pivotally moving said bracket and said arm toward each other whereby a portion of garment fabric positioned between said bracket and said arm will be engaged by said Wedge and projected through said opening, a marking substance resiliently supported adjacent said opening in position to engage said projecting portion of fabric, and. means for causing movement of said marking substance across said opening to effectively mark the projecting portion of the fabric.

WILLIAM A. STEVENS.

KARL T. WILSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,030,951 Walton July 2, 1912 1,200,727 Hogan Oct. 10, 1916 1,219,343 Naber Mar. 13, 1917 1,294,117 Kottman Feb. 11, 1919 1,979,789 Barrett Nov. 6, 1934 

